Young Engineering without borders - Transition to circular economy

The city of Pécs is moving away from its previous reliance on coal and uranium mining and this transition has caused poverty in region. The lessons learned during this project could be adapted when we move home to work in our chosen field.

One area we would like to assist in this transition is promoting the concepts of the circular economy–not just recycling and repurposing ‘waste’, but the equally important process of prolonging the life of products through maintenance and repair. By utilising these concepts it is possible to significantly reduce not only the raw resources being extracted but also the energy required, and the amount of waste generated.

One of the issues hindering students from adapting to the circular economy, is not only the lack of knowledge, but also lack of practical involvement. Our generation is creative enough to come up with solutions that can impact our transition to the circular economy but until now a lack of tools has hindered our practical involvement. We do have classes where we come up with theoretical solutions but lack the means to apply or see the physical practicality

 of these solutions. Our intention is to provide students with a mobile workspace/tool centre where they can come and learn about how to adapt to the circular economy and also be provided with the tools and practical skills to try out their ideas and apply what they learn in their daily lives.

If we had access to basic tools and materials it would expand the horizons of what we could achieve and make our organisation become much more attractive for other students not only during the scope of the project but in the foreseeable future as well.

Please describe the activities you will implement throughout the project. 2500 character(s) maximum

Once we have access to the basic tools and materials there are activities we would like to implement in spreading awareness about the circular economy. In addition to the practical component of these activities we hope that it will open student’s eyes to a new way of viewing concepts of resources and waste.

Repair and maintenance workshops: Students need to learn there are alternatives to our throw away consumer society, eg, how many laptops are thrown away each year because they overheat because the cooling fan is clogged up with dust. If students had access to the knowledge and tools to open and clean the fan of their laptop it would prolong the life of the laptop and also give students the skills and confidence to tackle other maintenance tasks rather than disposing of and buying a new one. We aim to invite experts who can guide students through simple maintenance tasks to prolong the life of consumer items.

Repurposing workshops: Repurposing items stops waste going to the landfill and provides students with the opportunity to come up with creative ideas for giving items a new lease on life and creating value.

Circular Economy Educational Workshops: In these sessions, we would like to invite external professionals to share their experience with students and also supervise sessions for the repairability and repurposing workshops.

Visit to the local waste processing centre: By visiting a waste processing centre near Pécs students come face to face with what happens to the waste we produce. They will witness personally the challenges of waste management and recycling which is likely to encourage them to come up with further solutions that can be introduced in their community or at the university level.

Although these activities will mainly take place at the university, we will visit at least one local secondary school to promote ideas of the circular economy and how students can involve themselves in it.

Almost all these activities are reliant on access to basic tools which up until now we haven’t had access to which is why this grant is so important for us.

We expect 10-20 students to attend each workshop, but it is important to note that once our organisation has purchased the necessary tools for the workshops that they will continue to be used in the foreseeable future, so the number reached during the scope of the programme will be multiplied over time. "

🌱 Expected Results

"Greater awareness of the problems associated with the linear economy and options for transitioning to a greener circular economy.

In a more circular economy, if we can have products that remain in use in the local community for longer then it will mean less resources leaving the region. As raw resources, the cost of energy and cost of landfilling waste increase in price then a greener transition is becoming more attractive from a financial point of view. If students are aware of the possibilities under a circular economy then it is likely that they will be more involved and accepting.

It is also expected that those who are reached under this project are more likely to increase recycling of their household waste if they can see the benefits of doing so and the costs of not doing so.

Please note that all of the tools purchased under the framework of the project will continue to be used for many years so the number of people impacted in the first year will continue to climb in the perceivable future as well.

We can measure the impact based on how many student participate in the project and whether participation in workshops grows over time. We can also measure the impact by asking students to fill in surveys before they take part in events and after they have participated. We will also measure our impact by the number of students who sign up to be actively involved in the Pécs chapter of Engineers without Borders. "